Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

Note to Instructors
These slides were developed 1, during the spring semester 2005, as a teaching aid for the
undergraduate Fluid Mechanics course (ME33: Fluid Flow) in the Department of Mechanical
and Nuclear Engineering at Penn State University. This course had two sections, one taught
by myself and one taught by Prof. John Cimbala. While we gave common homework and
exams, we independently developed lecture notes. This was also the first semester that Fluid
Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications was used at PSU. My section had 93 students
and was held in a classroom with a computer, projector, and blackboard. While slides have
been developed for each chapter of Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications, I
used a combination of blackboard and electronic presentation. In the student evaluations of
my course, there were both positive and negative comments on the use of electronic
presentation. Therefore, these slides should only be integrated into your lectures with careful
consideration of your teaching style and course objectives.

Eric Paterson
Penn State, University Park
August 2005

1
These slides were originally prepared using the LaTeX typesetting system (http://www.tug.org/)
and the beamer class (http://latex-beamer.sourceforge.net/), but were translated to PowerPoint for
wider dissemination by McGraw-Hill.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 2 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Objectives
Identify various types of pumps and
turbines, and understand how they work
Apply dimensional analysis to design
new pumps or turbines that are
geometrically similar to existing pumps or
turbines
Perform basic vector analysis of the flow
into and out of pumps and turbines
Use specific speed for preliminary design
and selection of pumps and turbines
ME33 : Fluid Flow 3 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery
 Categories

Pump: adds energy to

a fluid, resulting in an
increase in pressure
across the pump.

Turbine: extracts
energy from the fluid,
resulting in a
decrease in pressure
across the turbine.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 4 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Categories
For gases, pumps are further broken down into

Fans: Low pressure gradient, High volume flow rate.

Examples include ceiling fans and propellers.
Blower: Medium pressure gradient, Medium volume
flow rate. Examples include centrifugal and squirrel-
cage blowers found in furnaces, leaf blowers, and
hair dryers.
Compressor: High pressure gradient, Low volume
flow rate. Examples include air compressors for air
tools, refrigerant compressors for refrigerators and air
conditioners.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 5 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Categories
Positive-displacement machines
Closed volume is used to squeeze or suck fluid.
Pump: human heart
Turbine: home water meter
Dynamic machines
No closed volume. Instead, rotating blades supply or
extract energy.
Enclosed/Ducted Pumps: torpedo propulsor
Open Pumps: propeller or helicopter rotor
Enclosed Turbines: hydroturbine
Open Turbines: wind turbine

ME33 : Fluid Flow 6 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Pump Head
Net Head

Water horsepower

Brake horsepower

Pump efficiency

ME33 : Fluid Flow 7 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Matching a Pump to a Piping System
Pump-performance
curves for a centrifugal
pump
BEP: best efficiency
point
H*, bhp*, V* correspond
to BEP
Shutoff head: achieved
by closing outlet (V=0)$
Free delivery: no load on
system (Hrequired = 0)

ME33 : Fluid Flow 8 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Matching a Pump to a Piping System
Steady operating
point:

Energy equation:

ME33 : Fluid Flow 9 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Manufacturer Performance Plot

ME33 : Fluid Flow 10 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Pump Cavitation and NPSH
Cavitation should be avoided due
to erosion damage and noise.
Cavitation occurs when P < Pv
Net positive suction head

NPSHrequired curves are created

through systematic testing over a
range of flow rates V.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 11 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Dynamic Pumps
Dynamic Pumps include
centrifugal pumps: fluid enters
axially, and is discharged
radially.
mixed--flow pumps: fluid enters
axially, and leaves at an angle
between radially and axially.
axial pumps: fluid enters and
leaves axially.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 12 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Centrifugal Pumps
Snail--shaped scroll
Most common type of
pump: homes, autos,
industry.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 13 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Centrifugal Pumps

ME33 : Fluid Flow 14 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Centrifugal Pumps: Blade Design

ME33 : Fluid Flow 15 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Centrifugal Pumps: Blade Design

Side view of impeller blade. Vector analysis of leading

and trailing edges.
ME33 : Fluid Flow 16 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery
 Centrifugal Pumps: Blade Design

Blade number affects efficiency and introduces circulatory

losses (too few blades) and passage losses (too many blades)
ME33 : Fluid Flow 17 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery
 Axial Pumps

Open vs. Ducted Axial Pumps

ME33 : Fluid Flow 18 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery
 Open Axial Pumps

Blades generate thrust like wing Propeller has radial twist to take into
generates lift. account for angular velocity (=r)

ME33 : Fluid Flow 19 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Ducted Axial Pumps

Tube Axial Fan: Swirl

downstream

Counter-Rotating Axial-Flow
Fan: swirl removed. Early
torpedo designs

Vane Axial-Flow Fan: swirl

removed. Stators can be
either pre-swirl or post-swirl.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 20 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Ducted Axial Pumps: Blade Design

Absolute frame of reference Relative frame of reference

ME33 : Fluid Flow 21 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Dimensional Analysis
 analysis gives 3 new nondimensional
parameters
Head coefficient
Capacity coefficient
Power coefficient
Reynolds number also appears,but in terms of
angular rotation
Reynolds number
Functional relation is
Head coefficient
Power coefficient
ME33 : Fluid Flow 22 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery
 Dimensional Analysis
If two pumps are
geometrically similar, and
The independent ’s are
similar, i.e.,
CQ,A = CQ,B
ReA = ReB
A/DA = B/DB
Then the dependent ’s
will be the same
CH,A = CH,B
CP,A = CP,B

ME33 : Fluid Flow 23 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Dimensional Analysis
When plotted in
nondimensional form, all
curves of a family of
geometrically similar
pumps collapse onto one
set of nondimensional
pump performance
curves
Note: Reynolds number
and roughness can often
be neglected,

ME33 : Fluid Flow 24 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Pump Specific Speed

Pump Specific Speed is used to characterize the operation of a

pump at BEP and is useful for preliminary pump selection.

ME33 : Fluid Flow 25 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery

 Affinity Laws
For two homologous states A and B, we can use
 variables to develop ratios (similarity rules,
affinity laws, scaling laws).

Useful to scale from model to prototype

Useful to understand parameter changes, e.g.,
doubling pump speed (Ex. 14-10).
ME33 : Fluid Flow 26 Chapter 14: Turbomachinery